View source for 2940/It Doesn't Explode

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/09/30
|Location=Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - Penguin Public Library
|Synopsis=Mamoru has a present for Takashi for being comparatively decent.
|Cast of Characters=38,47
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;PHONE&gt; A text from Mamoru Chiba: yo i have a thing for you and it does not explode, can i meet you somewhere<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;PHONE&gt; A text from Takashi Agera at Sat Sep 30 22:58:39 2017: Not sure if I'm happy it doesn't explode or if I'm expecting it to do some other hostile thing. But I'm free - where's good?<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;PHONE&gt; A text from Takashi Agera at Sat Sep 30 23:00:00 2017: Yeah don't do that security's amped up lately. Where can we go it won't get chewed up by the rumor mill and turned into a date?<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;PHONE&gt; A text from Mamoru Chiba: ahaha. shit. the library i guess<br /><br />20 MINUTES LATER:<br /><br />Mamoru's loitering like a nerdy nogoodnik outside the library, dressed as hipster GQ as usual, backpack on his back, finishing up taking over the Pokemon Go gym there. It has Just Gone Instinct, and the curl of a self-satisfied smug smile is growing on his face. Looking at the screen, he absently unslings his backpack, and then glances up to see if Takashi's on his way-- he's ''assuming'' the guy won't step out of the Dusk Zone behind him.

:'''{{#var:47|Takashi Agera| (47)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mostly correct. Takashi has, however, stepped out from behind some of the book stacks after taking a jaunt through one of the back rooms - where an Eclipse Door lets out. Doors outside of Mitakihara are much more rare and should only be used for official business, but respect for authority has never been one of Takashi's strong suits.<br /><br />He is, as almost always, dressed in a blue shirt that's a little messy and black jeans, like he just threw something together. Probably because he did. He comes up from Mamoru's right side. "So is this an intervention or something?" he asks, only half-joking.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru doesn't ''startle'', per se; he knows someone's near him, he's just somewhat surprised they're talking to him and oh it's Takashi that's why. He half-turns, wryly, and pockets his phone. There's a brief smile as he pulls out a plain-wrapped cylindrical object from the backpack he's just set on the floor.<br /><br />"Nah," he says, still crouching next to the bag, and then he holds the gift up. "It's actually a thank-you. Remember when I texted you for being a decent person? This is follow-up. Do you know a guy name of Locke?"

:'''{{#var:47|Takashi Agera| (47)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I can't say I do." Takashi answers, still a little bit wary but he takes the gift anyways. He's leaning back a bit, like he's a little jittery being in Mamoru's presence, or a little bit put off. But it's not dramatic - just there, and its hard to hide things like that from someone who's natively empathic, even if there is no touch.<br /><br />"Should I?" He picks at the wrapping for a moment, without ''actually'' opening it.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The gift is somewhat heavy, maybe about the size of a sterno can and a half, stacked. The wrapping is just plain white paper, a little glossy, taped with perfectly normal tape.<br /><br />"You're lucky," he says with a gallows laugh, standing up again and zipping the backpack, then slinging it over his shoulder. " But if a guy that's like eight feet tall and made of living shadow starts creeping on your friends, you definitely got my help in curbstomping him if you want it. I mean if you even need it, you could probably eat him for breakfast."<br /><br />A pause. "On the other hand, if he comes to you for help, you probably want to know he's got a real funny idea about what's acceptable behavior toward girls. Apparently his parents work for Eclipse, so he might be on your radar without your realizing it."<br /><br />Mamoru reaches up and rubs at the back of his neck, squinting a little at Takashi. He takes half a step back to see if that helps with that apparent skittishness, or uneasiness. "Anyway thank you for not being anything like him."

:'''{{#var:47|Takashi Agera| (47)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Takashi shifts it from one hand to another and feels the weight of it - Axion is also scanning it at the time. "If a guy that's eight feet tall and made of living shadow comes near me and starts creeping on my friends..." Takashi begins and starts removing the wrapping more in earnest, albeit slowly and delicately "...I'll get out of the way because Hannah is taken and can absolutely deal with creeps on her own." he adds with a smile.<br /><br />"A lot of people work for Eclipse, though. Not all of them really ''work'' for Eclipse, but they do own almost everything." Notably he uses they and not 'we' here. "Cops work for Eclipse even if they don't know it."<br /><br />"But giving the living shadow bit I don't think you mean they're accountants." He looks at the jar the paper removal has revealed. "So... what is it? Other than magic water."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There's a ''huge'' grin, basically, when Takashi invokes Hannah punchings; a huge grin and a wide-spread hands of 'you've definitely got a point there'. Then Mamoru sticks his hands in his pockets, listening; nodding agreement at the 'lots of people' and the 'living shadow' addendum. He's about to add something to ''that'' when Takashi finishes unwrapping the thing--<br /><br />--and he laughs outright. "It's not water, it's honey. It's rose honey, the stuff Mako-chan made chocolates from, but better than the version she'd initially used. The roses in the first batch were from a plant we'd both taken care of and used our powers on, mildly, in the process. She's made subsequent batches from the roses I throw in fights. It's regular honey, just-- then infused by sticking rose petals in it for a while and letting them steep, basically. You can use it to sweeten tea, or for making candy, or for baking cookies or whatever... I just remember that whole fiasco started because you ''really liked'' those chocolates. So-- this is the missing ingredient."

:'''{{#var:47|Takashi Agera| (47)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Takashi Mmmmms, in that way that a scientist does when they're been presented with the missing peice of a puzzle, a sort of both introspective and thankful sound. He looks at it for a moment, gazing into the jar - and then he looks up, one eyebrow slowly sneaking up above the height level of the other.<br /><br />"Does..." and here he visibly pauses, putting the effort in to use all the right names and honorifics and not be insulting "Kino-san know that you're giving me this? I can't say she and I have the best of connections." A pause. "Not that I don't appreciate gifts."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru blinks, then looks a little worried. "No, I took it out of my stash, not hers. I mean we've been buying vats of honey at the farmer's market... making the stuff's kind of a joint effort? She's the one who makes awesome stuff out of it, I just help in the manufacturing..."<br /><br />He grimaces, jamming his hands further into his pockets. "Well. If she gets mad, she gets mad, but she'll be mad at me, not you. So it's okay."

:'''{{#var:47|Takashi Agera| (47)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Takashi smiles. "I doubt she'll get mad at you." There's something there, in his eyes, but it's unsaid and unclear. "So... thank you. I don't have anything for you in return but I suppose that's to be expected. It's not as if this is a holiday."<br /><br />And there, for a moment, is that glimmer of the child stuck alone just trying to figure out how to people. It might be a little bit familiar to Mamoru as if he was looking at his past through a funhouse mirror underwater. "So... that's it then." he says, and with a nod, but not a bow, he turns to head back into the library stacks from whence he came.
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